“He really is a Rolls-Royce” – Ipswich Town fan pundit delivers verdict on critical injury setback | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk‘ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Ipswich Town have been rocked by the news that defender George Edmundson is set for a considerable period on the sidelines after picking up an ankle injury.

The centre-back has been an ever-present figure in the Tractor Boys starting 11 since his summer arrival from Scottish Premiership champions Rangers, playing 32 times in League One and scoring twice.

But Tuesday nights 2-0 success over Lincoln City could be his last game involvement of the season after suffering what head coach Kieran McKenna described as ‘heavy ligament damage’.

Quiz: What town or city were these 20 Ipswich Town players born in?

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Janoi Donacien

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With the Suffolk side pushing for the play-offs in the final two months of the campaign, Edmundson will be a major miss and those sentiments are echoed by Football League World’s Ipswich Town fan pundit Henry, although he believes that there is a player in the squad that is truly ready to step up.

“George Edmundson being out is a massive blow to Ipswich,” Henry said.

“We had a solid back three of (Janoi) Donacien, (Luke) Woolfenden and Edmundson – with Edmundson on the left he was starting to form a good partnership with (left wing back Dominic) Thompson.

“His relationship with Woolfenden was getting better and his progression of play on the floor and his movement with the ball and progressing with it himself was starting to get good – also we’ve kept 10 clean sheets in 14 games, which is obviously great.

“We have a very capable replacement in Cameron Burgess though.

“Burgess came on when Edmundson came off on Tuesday night and looked solid, is naturally left-footed so at left-sided centre-back works quite well on that side. With Accrington last year he won the most headers in League One.

“The only worrying thing is his turn of pace and ability to track runners may be questioned slightly, but in the air there’s no doubts that he can definitely cover that.

“On the floor he is more naturally able to keep the width due to his left-footed nature.

“In terms of how long he’s going to be out, whisper it quietly if we get into the play-offs I hope Edmundson will be back because he really is a Rolls-Royce centre-back for League One and I think Ipswich will definitely miss him, but we do have a ready replacement in Burgess.”

The Verdict

Since his debut against Bolton Wanderers in September – in a match that Ipswich fans would quite like to forget as it finished 5-2 to the Trotters – Edmundson had played every single minute of every single league game until his withdrawal against Lincoln.

And having played a massive part of their good form defensively ever since McKenna arrived as head coach, Edmundson will be a tremendous loss for the run-in.

Ipswich still have a fantastic chance of reaching the play-offs but they may now be hindered due to Edmundson’s absence.

Cameron Burgess is a decent understudy but he perhaps lacks the athleticism and speed that Edmundson possesses, so whilst he will fit in as a left-footer in his place, he may not be an idea replacement.